OSAGE BEACH, Mo. — The City of Osage Beach will spend more than half a million on a major overhaul to one of the city’s busiest intersections.
The Osage Beach Board of Aldermen on Thursday approved $669,000 for improvements to the intersection of Osage Beach Parkway and Barry Prewitt Memorial Drive. Through this intersection passes much of the traffic going to and from the many businesses at Prewitt’s Point, including Hy-Vee and Target, as well as State Fair Community College students and shoppers at Stone Crest Mall and Starbucks.
The work will include replacement of the control equipment in the signal lights, new asphalt overlay and construction of sidewalks at the intersection. The sidewalks will extend all the way to Ozark Gardens Apartments on Highway D behind Hy-Vee.
The board approved a contract with Stockman Construction Corp. of Jefferson City, the lowest of three bidders on the project. The city had budgeted $750,000 for the project, and all three bidders came in below the budgeted amount.
Public Works Director Nick Edelman said once the project is completed, the budgeted but unspent money will be transferred into the city’s unrestricted balances.
“If you choose to do so, you as a board at the end of the year can divvy that up for other transportation projects next year,” he said.
Edelman said pavement on Osage Beach Parkway has a layer of concrete topped with a layer of asphalt, and the interlock between the two is failing.
Peanick Park Playground
In other business, the board held a public hearing on proposed improvements to the Peanick Park playground.
The city will replace the playground equipment designed for children ages 2-5, which is nearest to the parking lot at the park. No one spoke on the plan during the public hearing.
The project is scheduled to begin in the fall if the city is awarded a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant. The first phase will replace the playground equipment with “safe equipment as well as up-to-date safety surfacing,” which will provide access for disabled residents, said Parks and Recreation Department Manager Matt Vandevoort.
Future phases include replacing the remaining playground equipment and surfacing with up-to-date safety and accessibility as well as adding multiple interactive detached pieces of equipment and shaded seating areas,” he said.
The board also approved a contract for tree clearing at Grand Glaize Osage Beach Airport. The winning bid for the airport project also came in well below the city engineer’s estimate of $210,000.
The board approved a $163,000 contract with Young General Contracting of Poplar Bluff. Grant funds from the Federal Aviation Administration and administered by the Missouri Department of Transportation will reimburse the city for 90 percent of the costs of the work, Edelman said.
